The past year has taken me on an intense personal journey.  I have spent most of my life trying to figure things out. Recently, I am more intrigued by the mysteries of life and less concerned about what is fact.   I am enjoying wondering more than knowing.  Instead of clawing for the "right" answer, I am quietly waiting– watching the possibilities unfold before me. Living life sure is easier being open and accepting instead of trying to nail everything down.

I have been painting birds for a long time, but my latest birds are freer, lighter and more open to something beyond…

Here is a short  video of a watercolor being painted where a pair of white doves emerge from the page.

Orchid Faces, Watercolor

When something major is happening in my life, like moving across country, much of my psychic energy is devoted to reorienting. The land is dramatically different with purple mountains and dusty tan earth. The food flavors are exotic with smoked Paprika and chilies everywhere. The air is dry and thin. My skin the same.

I  have buried myself in interesting text books and I am busy learning the culture at Southwestern College. I love it, but it's taking all of my attention.

My watercolors are out and wet and ready and every day I drag my brush across the paper waiting for something to catch fire. I guess the higher level of consciousness required for inspired painting just isn't accessible to me yet.


I am posting a piece I started in August and laid on the finishing touches today, just to assure myself that I can still paint.

Red Wine Hibiscus, Watercolor

This summer I finished "Red Wine Hibiscus" along with many others I haven't had time to post.  I think I will change the title of my blog since I have not been fulfilling the "daily painter" role lately.

Teaching and sorting through stuff and saying goodbye to friends has been my focus this month. We are moving from North Carolina to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It is a great opportunity to evaluate paintings, old and new, and decide which ones I am going to pack and ship across country.   If a painting has been resting in the "unfinished" pile for over two years, it will probably never be completed.  Those go in the bonfire. 

It feels good to close the door on things that are not working.

Moving from North Carolina to New Mexico

We arrived in Albuquerque, NM last night at sunset.  A magical welcoming rainbow appeared in the Sandia Mountains just as we came over the ridge. After blogging and posting paintings daily for so many years, I have stepped back to let some ideas simmer. I am still paintings (almost daily) but I have been preoccupied with preparing, mentally and physically, for a move from North Carolina to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

My best art comes when I am completely immersed in the flow of creating. Trying to paint, when other thoughts are whirling around in my  head makes for weak paintings. They are stacking up, waiting for a time when I can give them my full attention and possibly bring them to completion. Maybe in August when we have a clear moving plan, or September when I take a break from teaching, or October when we are settled in in New Mexico, or ...

we will see.

"Golden Rocks on the Shore" Watercolor Painting

For many years I posted a new painting on this blog nearly every day.  I decided to do 2012 differently.  I have spent more time just painting and thinking and letting go of my drive to produce. For me, the joy of painting is in the process so many paintings never quite get resolved.  A fresh white sheet of Arches paper always tempts me to start anew. 

I started this piece as a rock painting demonstration for a watercolor class. It evolved into an interesting lakeside scene, quite abstract it detail and yet clearly a place in nature.

New Chicken Painting "Lulu's Laying"

It is spring.  I know because Lulu is laying again. 
Oil 24x30

Oil Painting "Fractured" at North Carolina Museum of Art Auction

My oil painting has been selected for the 2012 Art of the Auction event for the North Carolina Museum of Art.  in Raleigh, NC.

The auction preview is March 30, 2012. Then, April 14, 2012 the actual auction takes place with an exciting evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and silent and live auctions with all proceeds benefiting Museum exhibitions and education programs.

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The oil painting “Fractured” transforms a flat surface into a space with great depth and relief. The background splits in half mimicking the split of the solid mass in the foreground. This fractured shape reveals a hint orange oozing from its cracks creating a fine aura and reminds the viewers they are looking at paint. The large solid mass with a gaping orifice sitting in a quiet expanse creates a mysterious feeling of solitude.

As I paint, the work evolves as it is being created and I am open to whatever happens- always looking to transcend concrete thought and expand the consciousness so that I may know something beyond what I knew the day before.

Ireland's Watercolor Doorway

I began this painting yesterday as a demonstration when a little girl confidently told me the red door should be open.She was right.  This little detail adds an element of intrigue to the story the painting is telling.
Thank you Ireland.

Petunia Watercolor

We have a great group of people studying watercolor Thursday nights at Chambers Arts in Cary, NC.
My favorite part of teaching is encouraging artists to let go, be free, and allow the watercolor to do its thing. Painting is most fun when you give up some control and watch the painting unfold.  Life is a little like that too. 

Petrified Wood, watercolor

This “Petrified”  watercolor was inspired by my fascination with petrified wood (wood which has turned into rock).  It is interesting to study the lines, colors, shapes, mystery and history all pressed into a “log”. 

Tumbling Rocks, watercolor

I've always been fascinated by the idea of rocks worn smooth and round from years of tumbling against the other rocks. A great subject for playing with watercolor textures.

Landscape watercolor

“Underneath” Watercolor   

Dozens of coats of transparent watercolor form veils of pigment revealing the many layers in its history. This painting began with spontaneous linear strokes which took on recognizable landscape form. The white paper coming through creates a magical luminosity. Crisp final brushstrokes define little capsules evidencing the treasures buried beneath us.

Watercolor Doorway

This is a French street scene of a garden shop that exists only in my mind, and now on your screen.

Watercolor Arches

I thought this was an appropriate painting with which to start the New Year!

May many doors open to you in 2012!

Flower Seller, watercolor

I've painted very few people in my life, but recently pulled out this one for a revisit.
I want to try her again.




Saw the incredible Rembrandt show at the North Carolina Museum of Art yesterday.  It is the largest collection of Rembrandts every shown in America and will travel to Minneapolis MN this summer. With his dramatic lighting and somber palette he really captured the moodiness and character of his subjects.
 

Watercolor, Purple Grapes on the Vine

Grapes on the vine make for such delightful subjects with their clusters of purple orbs, twisty calligraphic vines and interesting foliage. This watercolor is 20x30.

Abstract Fall Woods Landscape

This painting captures the powerful transformation of the woods during the season's change. The dynamic shapes of oranges and golds are like party dresses on the trees.

Oil 8x10

Lily White Iris Watercolor Painting demonstration Video

The PROCESS of making art more is far more satisfying to me than seeing the finished product.  Most artists would agree- "doing" is better than "having done".  I am working on capturing this process of painting through video.  It is a whole new way of looking at art.  I'm having fun.

Watch a two minute video of this watercolor coming to life.

White Cyclamen on Black Background, Watercolor & Ink

11x13 Watercolor with India Ink background

Tonight 

Join us in the showroom from 5-8 this Friday  March 11, 2011 for a reception to celebrate the wonderful paintings of local artist Amy Hautman! 
The Virginia Gail Collection is excited to showcase a collection of the artist's "representational oils & watercolors with a whimsical twist."

The Virginia Gail Collection

201 S Estes Dr. in Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Chapel Hill/Carrboro 2nd Friday Artwalk 2nd Friday Artwalk events are free and open to the public



 

  

"We're Golden", Chicken Pair, Oil Painting

BIG is fun!  This is a new 24x 36 Oil Painting on Canvas. Watching a chicken face the size of my own emerge from the canvas was a bit of trip. Now they are here on my studio wall watching my every move.

Eucalyptus Tall and Thin, Watercolor

The dark background really makes the subject pop forward.  I had fun making up the shapes of the shadows and giving it a sense of light. The nature of the tall and narrow plant called for a long thin composition. This is 1/2 a sheet of Arches Watercolor paper.   15x30.

Available    $750.

WInter Eucalyptus

As spring approaches I am more tuned into the beautiful parts of the winter garden.  Before all the bones of the landscape become hidden by the profusion of greenery, I am noticing the great shadowy shapes created between branches, berries and sticks.

Watercolor and India Ink on Paper

 5x8
SOLD

Eucalyptus at End of Winter, Watercolor and India Ink

After being in Minnesota last week and remembering what 22 below feels like, my home in North Carolina seems downright balmy.  I've been standing in the garden appreciating the the fact that I can be there with a sketchbook, pencil and bare hands. In Minnesota I could only draw on the windshield with an ice scraper.

I wanted to record the last of winter with this painting of the crisp leaves and berries tangled in the skeleton of the garden.

Icy Blue Landscape

It is a rare phenomenon here in Raleigh,  North Carolina to see all the trees covered in glittering shells of ice.  

8x10 Oil